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Published: September 20, 2018

HTP Travel Directors make all the difference

My first job out of college was as a Travel Director, leading groups of U.S. students around Spain and Portugal. It was an amazing experience.

I got my start as a Travel Director while studying at the University of Bristol in England many years ago, working mostly over holiday breaks. After I graduated, it became my “full-time” job, and I loved it. Although I initially specialized in Spain and Portugal, I gradually expanded my expertise to other countries throughout Europe.

That first job led to a career in educational travel. While moving into other roles, I always relished the opportunity to return to travel directing, and I’ve been fortunate to lead groups on countless tours across Europe and even Cuba.

As a former Travel Director, I know firsthand how important a Travel Director is to the overall experience of a trip, and now as the founder of Hart Travel Partners, I make sure that we have fantastic Travel Directors who play a huge role in the success of our travel programs.

Our Travel Directors travel with our groups from Day 1 when they arrive at the airport to the very last day of the trip. Not only do our Travel Directors provide local knowledge, but they also manage all the travel logistics while on tour, so that our faculty, teachers and educators don’t have to worry about that and can focus on traveling and learning.

As a Travel Director, I loved sharing my knowledge about history, local traditions and even food to my groups. It was especially fun to stroll around Toledo, Spain, at night, and I remember my students’ amazement at seeing a bridge that is 2,000 years old still being used! I loved taking a boat ride along the Seine River in Paris at night, and it always was a thrill to cross the Straits of Gibraltar from Spain to Africa. It was a true privilege to be sharing these experiences with my groups. Many of these students had never left their own home states let alone the United States.

While it always was interesting and a lot of fun, it also was hard work! As a Travel Director, you always have to be thinking at least three days ahead. You are managing the group’s transportation and hotel check-ins, getting the group to restaurants and academic meetings on time and a whole lot more. And, of course, emergencies sometimes arise. If a student is sick, you work with the local office to make sure that he/she is seen to and treated.

A Travel Director also can provide so much more to a group. Of one of our top Travel Directors, one of our recent faculty leaders recently wrote: “Fabiana was not just a tour guide. She turned out to be an instrumental part of our trip. She participated in our group conversations, nightly debriefings, and helped our students to become more confident and worldlier.”

To be a good Travel Director, you have to be passionate about local cultures and history and you have to be able to present it in interesting ways. You also have to be a manager, a problem solver, a diplomat, a “people person,” patient, calm under pressure and, of course, a linguist.

While all of our Travel Directors each possess their own unique traits and personalities, they also all have all of those qualities. Here are some terrific examples:

• Jasmina is from Slovenia, and her expertise is the Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe. She can present the complicated history of this area in ways that spark curiosity and interest in her groups. I have lost count of how many languages she can speak, but I think it is six (or maybe even eight)!

• No one is more passionate about Italy than Raffaella. After a week in Italy with her, you will feel like you really know the country. And you might even be speaking Italian!

• Daniel will make you fall in love with Spain and inspire you to travel more.

• Herson, with his eagle eyes, will point out aspects of nature in the Cloud Forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica, that you would never have spotted without him!

• Jon is one of the best there is in the United Kingdom. Spend a few days with him in London, and you will know the city like a local!

• Richard is an expert in Ancient Rome. He has traveled with a very experienced Latin teacher and his students from a school in Connecticut a few times now. Together, they create wonderful educational experiences for the students.

In fact, it is common that our Travel Directors develop lasting partnerships — and even friendships — with our faculty, teachers, educators and group leaders and end up doing several trips together. This makes for even more rewarding and wonderful educational experiences.

No matter who the Travel Director is on your next Hart Travel Partners trip, you’ll surely treasure his or her expertise. Please call or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to start planning your own group trip with one of our fabulous Travel Directors!

Cheers,

Steve HartHart Travel Partners

The Hart Travel Partners Commitment

At Hart Travel Partners, we work personally with every faculty leader to create a travel program that meets your budget without sacrificing quality:

Our guarantee: Most direct flights within your budget

When you’re traveling, you want to get where you’re going as quickly and as easily as possible.

Especially on a faculty-led travel program, often with tight schedule constraints, you want to maximize your time exploring your destinations and actively engaging with your academic purpose. You don’t want to spend unnecessary time with extra flights just to get there — and back.

Spotlight on Belfast and the Antrim Coast

When I was growing up in England and Spain, Belfast was not a city people traveled to unless they had to. The “Troubles” — with innocent lives lost amid the passionate tensions between the different factions of the Nationalists (Irish and Catholic) and the Loyalists (British and Protestant) — made the Northern Ireland capital a dangerous place to visit.

On my recent visit to Belfast, though, I was happy to see that — although the memories of recent events still are very much alive — the city is doing a fabulous job of “moving on.” And Belfast is booming! New hotels are popping up all over the place to meet a huge increase in demand for travelers. I can see why more and more travelers are flocking there with so much to see and do.

Our guarantee: Local fare that meets your budget

I believe where and what you eat when you’re traveling is important.

Especially on a faculty-led travel program, you want to immerse yourself completely in the local culture, and that definitely includes the local food. It’s important to be able to eat like a local and enjoy food that is typical to your destination. After an active day of learning, it’s important not only to enjoy a nourishing and satisfying meal but also to sample delicious dishes from your destination — whether it’s tapas in Spain, a curry in England or Peking duck in China.

That’s why we always serve meals with local fare that meet your budget.

Our guarantee: Central hotels that meet your budget

I believe where you stay when you’re traveling is important.

Especially on a faculty-led travel program, it matters that your hotel is in a good location so you can maximize your time, immerse yourself in the culture and get the most out of your travels. It matters that your hotel is comfortable and provides a good night’s rest after an active day of learning. And it matters that you are able to stay connected online.

That’s why as founder of Hart Travel Partners, I guarantee that we always find centrally located hotels that meet your budget. Plus, I guarantee that all of our hotels offer free WiFi.

Dispatch from China: From Guilin to Yangshuo

Our founder, Steve Hart, currently is touring China and has been sharing photos of his travels along the way. He's already visited the Great Wall of China ("one of the most magnificent sites I have ever seen”) and the "fascinating" Terracotta Warriors and enjoyed the delicious food in Xi'an, home of Chinese noodles.

2018 Year in Review

Thank you to all of our faculty, group leaders and travelers for making 2018 such a special year for Hart Travel Partners. It's such a privilege for us to work with educators around the country to bring their students around the world. Check out our annual year-end slideshow video with some of the amazing destinations our groups enjoyed this year.

Merry Christmas from Hart Travel Partners

HTP Travel Directors make all the difference

My first job out of college was as a Travel Director, leading groups of U.S. students around Spain and Portugal. It was an amazing experience.

I got my start as a Travel Director while studying at the University of Bristol in England many years ago, working mostly over holiday breaks. After I graduated, it became my “full-time” job, and I loved it. Although I initially specialized in Spain and Portugal, I gradually expanded my expertise to other countries throughout Europe.

That first job led to a career in educational travel. While moving into other roles, I always relished the opportunity to return to travel directing, and I’ve been fortunate to lead groups on countless tours across Europe and even Cuba.

Spotlight on Morocco: Eight activities not to miss

I recently returned from Morocco, where centuries of African and European influences have transformed ancient civilizations into one of the world’s most unique and diverse regions. From modern metropolises to the Sahara Desert, Morocco provides an opportunity to explore distinctly different settings while absorbing lessons of the past and glimpses to the future.

With our local team there, I had the pleasure of traveling around Morocco to several cities and desert towns, and I was reminded how truly magical this country is. Morocco sometimes can be an overlooked destination, but it offers so many one-of-a-kind opportunities to explore cities, the mountains and the desert. For starters, it’s easy to get to from the United States; in fact, it is no longer than flying to many European destinations — and you get to spend time in an important and exotic country in Africa!

World Cup brings the world together

The FIFA World Cup — the biggest sporting event in the world — kicks off today in Russia. I love the World Cup, not only because I share a love of soccer with my family, but also because it brings players and fans together from all over the world.

Spotlight on Rome: History comes alive

Every time I travel to Rome, I am captured by the charm and wonders of this incredibly historical city.

On a recent trip, I flew in to Fiumicino Airport and took a taxi to my hotel in central Rome, as I’ve done countless times. But on that routine 30-minute taxi ride, I realized that we were witnessing 2,000 years of history right from my back seat.

Spotlight on Paris: Sorbonne treat

No matter how many times I’ve visited Paris, I always experience something new and exciting. My most recent trip was no different.

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting up with a group of students and faculty from Arizona State University, which was spending two weeks on a photography course in Paris. I can’t imagine a better backdrop than the City of Light for photography students. This is a regular study abroad program that Hart Travel Partners produces for ASU; you can even see some of the previous students’ photos on the HTP website.

Spotlight on Madrid: Our spiritual roots

To me, Madrid means home. The spiritual roots of Hart Travel Partners trace back to Madrid, where my mother is from, where I still have many friends and family and where I first started to work as a guide almost 30 years ago.

One of the reasons I founded HTP was to provide unique opportunities for educators and students to experience cities such as Madrid that I have known and loved for decades. Beginning this month, we will be highlighting several popular destinations to which HTP operates faculty-led study abroad programs.

For me, there’s no better place to start than Madrid, a city that remains very close to my heart and always has been one of my favorite places in the world.

Creating unforgettable learning experiences

It’s been an amazing and rewarding travel season so far in 2018 at Hart Travel Partners. I am very proud of the life-changing travel experiences we have created — together with faculty — for students from many parts of the country.

Earlier this year, for example, while studying religion and sustainability in India, HTP students and faculty visited Navdanya Biodiversity Farm, where they met the incomparable Dr. Vandana Shiva, an influential and outspoken environmental activist. They also witnessed the inspiring Hindu Ceremony of Light, or Arti, along the banks of the Ganges River in Haridwar.